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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28397550">The Best Revenge</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lee/pseuds/Rachel_Lee'>Rachel_Lee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Gen, Good Uchiha Sasuke, Pre-Canon, Therapy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:47:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,737</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28397550</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lee/pseuds/Rachel_Lee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It all began when, in one of his mandated therapy sessions, Sasuke’s Yamanaka therapist asked him, “Sasuke-san, have you ever heard the saying ‘the best revenge is living well’?”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Uchiha Sasuke &amp; Original Character(s), Uchiha Sasuke &amp; Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Best Revenge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just my take on what would happen if Sasuke realized that there's more to life than vengeance.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It all began when, in one of his mandated therapy sessions, Sasuke’s Yamanaka therapist asked him, “Sasuke-san, have you ever heard the saying ‘the best revenge is living well’?”</p><p>Sasuke looked intrigued. “No. What does that mean?”</p><p>“Sasuke-san, from what you’ve told me, your brother wants you to get strong enough to kill him. You’ve taken that on. ‘The best revenge is living well,’ is exactly what it sounds like. Do it in spite maybe, but he took everything from you. He wants you to be miserable and angry. Search for happiness in your life.” The Yamanaka, Yumiko-sensei, stopped for a moment and observed his reaction. He looked angry. She wanted to knock that expression off his face. “What would you do after you kill him?”</p><p>He was glaring at his hands, but abruptly shifted to glaring at Yumiko-sensei instead. “What do you mean?” he asked again.</p><p>“Okay, hypothesize with me: You train hard for years and years to be a jounin, strong enough to kill your brother. What comes after? You’ve just completed your life’s goal, and the way you’re going now, there’s nothing left. You don’t have any friends, any hobbies, anything you enjoy in life. Do you come home to an empty house, no one waiting for you? You’ve done your best to shut everyone out of your life.” Yumiko-sensei stopped there. Sasuke looked a little lost, forlorn even. “What are you thinking about?”</p><p>Sasuke felt lost. He’d spent over a year dedicated to the sole goal of killing his brother, but now he realized how empty his life was. He realized that, consumed by hate, he had nothing left. Itachi truly had taken everything from him. “I… have nothing. He took my family, but I had friends before. Now I don’t speak to them, train with them, study with them…” Sasuke trailed off.</p><p>Yumiko-sensei smiled at the momentous progress her patient just made. “Sasuke-san, the first part of fixing a problem is realizing there is one. So, let’s adjust your goals. You want to kill your brother and gain justice for your clan. That’s admirable, but it’s a long-term goal. He’s a jounin-level ninja, so one of your other goals can be to progress to jounin rank. What’s something else you want to do?”</p><p>Sasuke thought hard for a few minutes. He was only nine years old, but these were important, life-altering decisions to make. He couldn’t be hasty.</p><p>“I want… to restore the Uchiha. I want to be a respected name again.”</p><p>“Okay, Sasuke-san, let’s dig into that. You just mentioned you want to restore the Uchiha reputation. What was that, to you, before the Massacre?”</p><p>“My father,” Sasuke paused for a second, “my father used to tell me his war stories from the Third War and the people he worked with. He used to tell me funny stories too, of missions gone wrong. After,” he paused again, “after… some of his old friends sent me letters, telling me how much they respected him, how they wanted him at their back. He was dependable.”</p><p>Yumiko smiled brighter. It was always hard to get Sasuke to talk about his family and he volunteered information she didn’t know. “You’re right. Your clan had a village-wide reputation of being strong, capable shinobi. During the war, I worked a lot with Uchiha Nakano, and her genjutsu made her a fierce taijutsu fighter. She saved my life a few times.”</p><p>Sasuke looked at his hands again. The Uchiha were known to be dependable. He didn’t want to be known as kin-killers. He wanted to be so great, people forgot about Itachi at all. Sasuke smiled slightly. <em> Yeah, I’ll make people forget about Itachi and what he did to us. I won’t let him control me anymore. But… How do I become a dependable shinobi? </em> He didn’t know, so he asked Yumiko-sensei just that.</p><p>“Sasuke-san, you’re nine years old. You have plenty of time to grow into yourself and your future potential, but you’re never going to get back time in the Academy. Before the village was founded, shinobi clans used to train by themselves at home. The Nidaime created the Academy because these are your future comrades. The people you go to school with will save your life one day, just like Uchiha Nakano saved mine. I’ll give you some homework after today. Spend some time connecting with your classmates. If they’re smart like you, study with them. If they struggle a bit, offer them some help. Become dependable.”</p><p>Sasuke scrunched his nose and looked a little upset. “Do I have to help the idiots? Some of them are dumb.”</p><p>Yumiko-sensei laughed, “Yes, Sasuke-san, help them too. You’re more mature than your classmates, so they seem dumb to you. They’re just a bit silly, a bit childish. You’ve had to grow past that. Also, I have it on good authority that teaching someone something only makes you better at it. Between learning and teaching, different things are going on in your mind. Teaching makes you analyze in ways you don’t normally. Try to teach someone something and come back to me at our next session and let me know if you think I’m right or wrong.” Yumiko-sensei closed her notebook and stood up. </p><p>She led him to the door and watched him walk out. Yumiko giggled a little when she saw Sasuke walk into a side table, he was thinking so hard. She watched him go and knew he would be alright one day. Not today, not tomorrow, but one day. And, if he made some friends out of all this, well, she wouldn’t complain!</p>
<hr/><p>The next day, Sasuke walked into his Academy class and stared at his classmates. Sasuke thought about it long and hard the night before, who he wanted to try and befriend. He didn’t want to focus on any of the civilians. He knew they wouldn’t understand him, and their parents were the ones who always made him feel creepy when he was out in the village. So, he looked at the clan kids. </p><p>There was Hyuuga Hinata. He ruled her out because she was a Hyuuga, and he still had prejudice against her clan. Give him a break, he was nine and their families were rivals! Also, she was so shy, he didn’t think she’d talk to him.</p><p>Sasuke looked at Aburame Shino. He ruled Shino out too because Shino was just as quiet as Sasuke was. He was also very competent, so Sasuke didn’t think he could teach him anything. </p><p>Actually, the same goes for most of his clan-raised classmates. They all had families and people at home to train with them. If any of them were lacking, it was probably deliberate. As Sasuke thought that, he looked at Nara Shikamaru. <em> Yup, definitely deliberate</em>. That leaves… Sasuke looked over at Naruto, the loudmouth, the idiot, but the only other orphan in his class. Sasuke grimaced, but he wanted to be dependable.</p><p>Sasuke shored up his confidence and walked up to Naruto, who was sitting in a window seat in the back corner. He walked over and tried to be polite. “Uzumaki, can I sit with you?”</p><p>Naruto looked over at Sasuke and he was really confused. Sasuke had never once willingly spoken to him before. Naruto looked around, thinking this was a prank. However, no one was paying them too much attention. He could tell no one was watching and waiting for his embarrassment. Naruto looked at Sasuke again and said, “Ahhh, suuure?” He lengthened the word and his voice rose at the end, making it sound more like a question that a statement. “But, uh, why do you want to sit next to me. I kinda thought you hated me, datebayo.” Naruto asked, and flinched at the end. He didn’t mean to say all that.</p><p>Sasuke looked uncomfortable, but sat down anyway. He looked to Naruto and started, “I had a… realization I guess.”</p><p>Naruto waited for a moment, but then realized Sasuke wasn’t going to say anything else. “What do you mean?”</p><p>“I, uh..” Sasuke stopped for a moment, but then said again louder, “You know that my clan died.” Sasuke stopped for a moment and waited for Naruto to nod before continuing. “One of them turned traitor and killed everyone else but me. For a long time, I just wanted to be strong enough to kill him.” Sasuke looked pained but continued on. It hurt him a lot to say all this. “I realized that the Uchiha were really great, before they died. We were a shinobi clan, and they were dependable ninja. I want them to be remembered as dependable again.” He stopped there, a little shocked that he was saying all this. But, then he realized, he <em> wanted </em> to share this with somebody. Sasuke really wanted to be not alone again.</p><p>Naruto looked straight ahead at the podium, taking a few moments to think. He turned back to Sasuke and asked, “But why are you sitting next to me? <em> No one </em> wants to sit next to me.”</p><p>Sasuke looked uncomfortable again, and realized this would be a bit awkward. “My therapist was telling me that, um, part of being dependable is being a good comrade. You’re my future comrade. Part of being a good comrade is helping others when they struggle. You’re also the only other orphan here, so I know you don’t have someone at home to help you. You struggle in class and I don’t. I was, um, hoping to train with you and help you.” </p><p>Sasuke was very stilted when he said that, but Naruto could tell he was being genuine. Sasuke was looking all over the room, but Naruto hadn’t said anything, so he looked back and saw that Naruto’s eyes were shining. <em> Oh kami, he’s crying</em>, Sasuke thought. He started to panic. What did he do wrong? Was it something he said?</p><p>Naruto quickly looked down and rubbed his fists over his eyes. <em> How embarrassing </em> , he thought. No one had ever been kind to him before, except for the Hokage, but he was <em> the Hokage! </em> He had to be nice to orphans. Well, there was Teuchi-jiisan and Ayame-chan. And Iruka-sensei, now that he had thought about it. But, Sasuke was the first person his age to be nice to him! Maybe it’s because he had no parents to warn him away…</p><p>Naruto composed himself before looking at Sasuke again. “Do you… want to be my friend?” Naruto asked shyly. </p><p>Sasuke looked uncomfortable again. Was he allergic to feelings or something? “Uh, yeah. That’d be okay.” Sasuke responded softly.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>After school that day, Sasuke and Naruto left side by side. They walked out the Academy doors and past all the near training grounds for one of the ones farthest back, almost into the forest. Sasuke set down his backpack and looked at Naruto. “I don’t really know where to begin. What’s something you want to be better at?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto thought about it for a moment. Sasuke was the first person to </span>
  <em>
    <span>see him</span>
  </em>
  <span> in such a long time, he didn’t want to ruin it by being his regular boisterous self. He usually did that for attention, but now he had Sasuke’s attention already! Naruto thought back to school that day. What did he want to know and where did the teachers not tell him stuff? “Um, I don’t know why, but in spars I always lose, even though I practice my taijutsu.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, Sasuke could work with that. He’s pretty good at taijutsu. “Okay, let’s do it. First, show me the first Academy kata.” Everyone at the Academy was taught the same taijutsu style and they were expected to use it in spars, so kids with clan or personalized styles didn’t have too much of an advantage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto went through the kata and Sasuke saw way too many errors. That didn’t make sense. Naruto said he practiced and it didn’t sound like he was lying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, stop.” Naruto abruptly stopped and looked at Sasuke. “Who taught you that? Your stance is too wide, your punches over-extend your arm, and your blocks don’t actually block anything vital.” Sasuke was mildly upset. Maybe one error was fine, but Naruto went through almost an entire kata. Every mistake happened multiple times. That was deliberate. Scratch that, Sasuke was officially upset.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto relaxed his stance and scratched his head. “Um, Momiji-sensei taught me that. He pulled me aside for extra help and everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, don’t listen to Momiji-sensei anymore. He’s obviously an idiot.” Sasuke got into the kata’s starting stance. “Watch me as I do it.” Sasuke stepped forward and punched with his right hand and then blocked with his left arm. “See where my block goes? My arm is parallel to my body and my other hand is ready to counter-strike if necessary. Also, look at my feet. Your stance was too wide, so if someone attacked you, you’d just fall over.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke continued in this vein for all three Academy kata they had been taught. Naruto followed along slowly and then repeated the kata. Sasuke would fix any mistakes, but after an hour, Naruto had almost no mistakes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, Naruto!” Sasuke was very impressed. “You’re really smart!” He smiled at Naruto. Sasuke was happy. He took a moment to examine the warmth in his chest. When was the last time he felt happy? That thought only made him sad. But maybe, just maybe, he could have more happy moments like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke may have been happy, but Naruto was ecstatic. He didn’t really think Sasuke was pulling his chain by offering to help, but Sasuke went above and beyond Naruto’s expectations. Was this what it was like to have friends? If so, he never wanted to be without them again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto decided then and there that Sasuke was one of his previous people, just like Hokage-jiji, Teuchi-jiisan, Ayame-chan, and Iruka-sensei. He wanted to introduce his new friend to his precious people, so he invited Sasuke to get dinner with him. Sasuke, eager to extend this happiness, agreed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two lonely boys made a tradition after that. After every time they practiced one-on-one, they’d get dinner together. Naruto initially went to Ichiraku Ramen so often because they were the only restaurant that would serve him good food. However, as a tagalong of the Last Loyal Uchiha, Naruto was allowed in to more restaurants, but they still went to Ichiraku’s most often.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>After such a resounding success with Naruto, Sasuke was excited to attend his next therapy session. He walked into Yumiko-sensei’s office with a pep in his step that she had never seen before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke-san, good afternoon! You seem to be in a good mood. Will you tell me why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Yumiko-sensei.” Sasuke settled in his chair. “You were right. I asked a classmate if I could help him and I fixed his taijutsu. We’re friends now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yumiko was so proud of Sasuke. She didn’t know what had happened in their last session to make him so receptive of her advice, but she couldn’t help but thank every higher power she could think of for it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s really great, Sasuke-san. Will you tell me more?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Uzumaki Naruto in my class is really loud a lot, and he always gets in trouble for not paying attention. He’s also the only other orphan in my class, so I figured he had no one else to help him. I thought he’d be a good start.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yumiko’s smile got a little more wooden, but she didn’t let Sasuke notice. She had her own personal problems with Uzumaki Naruto, but she wasn’t going to let that get in the way of Sasuke’s mental health. She was a professional, after all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a really great thought process.” And it really was. Sasuke displayed empathy in his choice of picking another orphan, someone he knows has no one to teach him, just like Sasuke. She wanted to know more about teaching him taijutsu, so she asked him just that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, you were right about the teaching thing. Naruto’s stances were all wrong. I think the taijutsu sensei is an idiot, because he was all over-extended and sloppy. When I was telling him what to do, I had to come up with explanations for it, so I had to think more than ‘it’s this way because it’s done this way.’”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yumiko was proud of her patient. This was exactly what she wanted him to learn, so she told him so. “Sasuke-san, you’re right. I’m proud of you for having an answer already. Last week, you thought I was silly for asking this of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke had the presence of mind to look a little sheepish. “Yeah,” he said softly, “you were right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yumiko thought he was so cute! She giggled and told him, “Sasuke, that’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’ve had a lot of patients. When I ask you to do something, it’s because I really think it will help you.” Yumiko debated continuing on or leaving it there. With his mental state, he needed to learn that he wasn’t always right all of the time. But she still tacked on, “However, if something I ask of you makes you uncomfortable, you need to let me know. I think you’ve seen the benefit these sessions have in your life, but it only works if we’re honest with each other.” Sasuke responded to her serious tone and nodded. She had told him this in the past before, that honesty was important if he wanted help, but that hadn’t really meant anything before last session. He didn’t share much before.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>That one session changed the course of Sasuke’s Academy career. After helping Naruto and becoming friends, the two of them sought each other out, but also opened themselves to making new friends. Naruto would make a case for who to help and Sasuke would make the final decision. So, they made a study group with Choji and Hinata, with Shikamaru as Choji’s tagalong. Naruto felt compelled to help his shyer classmates, and Sasuke agreed because he knew how cruel their world could be. He didn’t want them to be unprepared. Shikamaru tagged along because where Choji went, he followed and vice versa. Sasuke’s veto power turned away Ino and Sakura--”I refuse to spend time with fangirls!”--and all of the civilians--”They’re not gonna last anyway.”--but Naruto was happy anyway. Four friends, including one best friend, was so much better than he had before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s Academy teachers couldn’t believe the changes they saw in the boy. Before the Massacre, Sasuke was a shy, sweet boy, who loved participating in class and talking about his cool ninja brother and fierce Konoha Police Chief father. He talked about his mother’s wire and shuriken skills, and how much he learned from all of them. Immediately after the Massacre, Sasuke shut down. He didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t sit with anyone, and didn’t respond in class. If the teachers didn’t see his homework, they would think he didn’t pay any attention in class at all. However, something changed, and one day he reached out to classmates. They didn’t get it, but they were relieved at the change.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>“Team Seven,” Iruka-sensei started, “is slated as a combat oriented team. Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another effect of Sasuke’s change in perspective was that, while he still had fangirls, they weren’t useless. Because he was willing to talk to them, sparingly, he made it clear that he liked serious kunoichi. Even if that was a lie, they didn’t know and took it to heart. What can he say? They asked when he was ten years old, and at ten, he had no interest in any girl/woman/romantic partner. And while Sasuke realizes part of restoring the Uchiha requires repopulating, he’s still ten and doesn’t need to think about that for a good long while.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But back to the team sorting, everyone but Team Seven was a little disappointed. The future Team Ten knew they’d be together, but Sasuke was a good student. He was solid. These genin already wanted him at their backs.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>“Okay Team Seven,” said Kakashi-sensei. “Tell me a bit about yourself. Hobbies, dreams, and the like.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at his team with glee. “I’m Uzumaki Naruto! I like to train with Sasuke and I want to be Hokage!” Even though he no longer desired the hat to make everyone acknowledge him, Naruto wanted to be Hokage now because of how deeply he admired the Sandaime. He wanted to be just like his Jiji.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Uchiha Sasuke,” Sasuke said in a calm tone. “I like to train and play the flute.” Sasuke’s mother taught him that so long ago, but he picked it up again after reevaluating his goals. An avenger doesn’t need to play instruments, but someone seeking to make a real life might. “My dream is to rebuild the Uchiha clan and make it known for great ninja again.” Kakashi looked at his young ‘genius’ and almost smiled. He knew what it was like to grow up, last of a renowned clan with a traitor’s reputation over his head. He was relieved that Sasuke seemed to be better adjusted than Kakashi had been.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My name is Haruno Sakura. I like to press flowers and my dream is to be a jounin one day.” This Sakura, who actually interacted with Sasuke, saw no need in useless giggling and dumb dreams to marry Sasuke. Maybe one day, but she realized she wanted to be a strong kunoichi first. Also, he wanted to rebuild his clan! That definitely means lots of kids. She wasn’t sure she wanted kids at all, let alone lots of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi looked at these kids and felt a small, warm feeling in his chest. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hope.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He felt hope at what this team could be. Even if he wanted them to succeed, just a little bit, he couldn’t help but feel a little sadistic pleasure for this next part.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mah, well. I’m Hatake Kakashi and you’re not really genin yet. We have a survival test tomorrow, and if you pass, you’re genin.” Kakashi ignored the questions and stood up. “Training Ground 3, 0700.” He shunshined away (really he hid in a nearby tree) and watched them panic and leave. However, they left together. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes, they’re promising</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thought to himself.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is pretty early to make such a change, and it definitely changes the whole of canon. I decided to have this happen so early after the Massacre because I just can't see Sasuke being receptive to other ideas of revenge later on.<br/>I think kids are really resilient and I wanted Sasuke to be emotionally resilient. As a former child ball of rage, kids don't want to be angry all the time. Give them a chance to let it go and they will.<br/>Also, I have stuff planned for future chapters--barebones stuff--so I might add on to "be dependable" or might move on to other goals I wanted Sasuke to have.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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